Sekku 節句 : Choyo no Sekku 重陽の節句

When people used the lunar calendar, there were five days in the year called "節句 Sekku". The word sekku means the special days that people held particularly important traditional events on each year. These five feasts called sekku were the seventh day of the first month (January 7th : 人日 Junjitsu), the third day of the third month(March 3rd : 上巳 Joshi / Doll(Girl)'s Festival), the fifth day of the fifth month(May 5th : 端午Tango / Boy's Festival), the seventh day of the seventh month(July 7th : 七夕 Tanabata / Star Festival), and the ninth day of the ninth month(September 9th : 重陽 Choyo / Chrysanthemum Festival).  

People held traditional events and prepared special foods on each of the five feasts.

These five festivals are the date with odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9). Odd numbers are the positive numbers in the principle of Yin-Yang. And, as 9 is the largest odd number, September 9th used to be the most powerful day.

The ninth day of the ninth month was known as the Choyo Festival or the Chrysanthemum Festival. Chrysanthemums originally came from China, but chrysanthemums and cherry blossoms are both considered typical Japanese flowers. The chrysanthemums were believed to be auspicious flowers denoting longevity and eternal youth, and they were used as medicinal herbs in China.

The chrysanthemum is also closely related to the Imperial Family. A chrysanthemum crest is used as the Imperial crest. It is an open chrysanthemum with sixteen complete radiated petals. The Imperial Court used to hold a banquet for chrysanthemum viewing on the day of the Chrysanthemum (Choyo) Festival. Today, chrysanthemum doll exhibitions and chrysanthemum flower shows take place in many places throughout Japan around September 9th.

Tea Video Letter #4 Kiku-cha (Chrysanthemum Tea) for Choyo no Sekku in 2015.

Tea of Grace #5 2917.9.9